Archive for the ‘Rhubarb’ Category

Strawberry-Rhubarb Non-Pie

Thursday, June 9th, 2022

I tend to celebrate National Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Day, which falls each year on June 9, because I love food holidays.

I also celebrate this day because I adore dishes that pair sweet and tart. Strawberries in full season generally need no sugar. I can’t say the same of rhubarb. The two ingredients thus complement each other to some extent.

As food writer Judith Fertig has written, “Bitter rhubarb [makes] sunny-day strawberry face the realities of life—and taste all the better for it.”
The strawberry-rhubarb combination also works because it is truly multicultural and international.

Actually a vegetable rather than a fruit, rhubarb comes from a variety of countries but is perhaps best known as a Chinese import. It was originally used for medicinal purposes but eventually evolved into a food, helped out in large part by the widespread availability of sugar beginning in the 19th century.

Ornamental strawberry plants have been found worldwide for millennia. According to the University of Vermont Agricultural Extension Service, the varieties of this berry that we consume came from the Americas, where indigenous peoples ate and cooked with strawberries long before Europeans arrived in the New World.

Eventually, both the North American Virginia strawberry and the Chilean strawberry were brought to Europe. There the French and English bred them together to resemble what we think of as a strawberry today.

Combining strawberries and rhubarb, then, is a truly global enterprise … not unlike the United States.

Despite these positive traits, I don’t find Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Day a perfect holiday.

For one thing, it was obviously invented by someone in New Jersey or Connecticut, where strawberries come early in June.

We are close to strawberry season here in western Massachusetts. Nevertheless, even in this very warm spring we haven’t quite reached that season. At any rate, we haven’t reached it in my hilly hometown of Hawley, where most seasons arrive late.

I am also a little suspicious of this holiday because in my opinion the combination of strawberries and rhubarb is overblown.

All too frequently, when I tell people that I adore rhubarb, they respond by telling me that they love strawberry-rhubarb pie but don’t eat rhubarb in any other form.

This is a tragic response. Rhubarb is a complex food. It is adaptable to many uses, both sweet and savory. To see it only as a complement to strawberries—much as I love strawberries—doesn’t do it justice.

This year for Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Day, I’m actually preparing a relative of a pie rather than an actual pie: a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. According to culinary librarian Lynne Oliver, who created the helpful source “The Food Timeline,” cobblers were an American invention.

“According to food historians, cobbler … originated in the American West during the second half of the 19th century,” she writes. “Necessity required westward-bound pioneer cooks to adapt traditional oven-baked pie recipes to quick biscuit treats that could be cooked in Dutch ovens.”

I love the flexibility of a cobbler. It’s easy to make (no rolling required!), and it doesn’t have to look perfect. Indeed, the rough look of the dish is part of its charm. The named “cobbler” is purported to have come from this dessert’s resemblance to cobbled streets.

A cobbler also takes less time in the oven than a pie, a welcome characteristic on a warm day.

Perhaps we can re-name June 9 Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler Day. Or perhaps this cobbler should be rewarded with a day of its own a little later in June. It’s quite delicious.

Before I leave you, I wanted to give you the details about the concert I mention on the video. Here’s a nice listing about it.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Ingredients:

for the rhubarb base:
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups chopped strawberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, diced

for the cobbler crust:
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

for the topping:
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Instructions:

Combine the sugar and the cornstarch for the base in a medium nonreactive (non-aluminum) pot. Stir in the rhubarb, the strawberries, and the lemon juice. Cover this mixture and let it sit for an hour or two to help the fruit juice up.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 1-1/2-quart casserole dish.
Uncover the rhubarb mixture and bring it to a full boil, stirring frequently. Boil, stirring gently, for 1 minute. Remove the fruit from the heat.

(If you want to make the fruit mixture ahead of time, you may; just let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate it until you are ready to preheat your oven and make your cobbler.)

Spread the strawberry-rhubarb mixture in the prepared pan. Dot the top with butter.

To make the crust, whisk together the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, and the salt. Cut in the butter, but don’t overdo it. You should still see tiny pieces of butter in the mixture.

Whisk together the milk, the egg, and the vanilla. Add them to the dry ingredients, and mix just until moist. Drop this mixture onto the strawberry-rhubarb combination, and spread it around to cover the fruit. Sprinkle clumps of brown sugar over all.

Bake until lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve by itself or with whipped cream or ice cream. (Leftovers are great for breakfast.) Serves 6 to 8.

Watch me make it!

Refrigerator Pickles Revisited

Friday, May 31st, 2019

 

From time to time on this blog, I write that I will try a recipe a different way in the future. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. Occasionally, I take a very long time to get around to the new attempt.

When I wrote in May 2010 that I would try a different tack making my asparagus refrigerator pickles, I had no idea it would take me nine years to get around to it. Luckily, when I finally made them the better way (this month!), they were terrific.

I made them for a class and re-made them on Mass Appeal with the show’s new co-host, Alanna Flood. If you watch the video, please note that the salt and sugar are supposed to be boiled with the vinegar and water, not added to the jar later. I was so happy contemplating (and talking about) asparagus that I forgot to read the recipe!

We also remade the rhubarb cobbler I made on my very first visit to the program six years ago. It was as tasty as I remembered it.

So … here is the asparagus recipe, followed by the videos. Enjoy this wonderful time of year, full of produce and possibilities.


Asparagus Refrigerator Pickles


Ingredients:

1 pound fresh asparagus
2 small cloves garlic (or 1 large clove)
a generous branch of dill
3 to 4 peppercorns
1 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons Kosher or sea salt
1 pinch sugar

Instructions:

Clean and sterilize a pint jar. After snapping the ends off the asparagus, trim the stalks so that they will fit in the jar and not quite reach the top. (You may add the trimmings to your cream of asparagus soup!) Place them in the jar, and stuff the garlic, dill, and peppercorns in around them.

Combine the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a nonreactive pot. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cool it for a few seconds; then pour it over the vegetables.

If the jar isn’t quite full, add a little tap water to fill it. Let the pickles cool to room temperature; then place them in the refrigerator and wait 3 to 4 days before serving them. Makes 1 pint.

And now the videos!

 

Tinky Makes Asparagus Pickles

Tinky Makes Rhubarb Cobbler

Rhubarb-Glazed Meatballs

Friday, June 8th, 2018

I hope you’re not tiring of rhubarb! I’m still surrounded by it, going from event to event selling my cookbook, Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb.

I’m having fun trying to convert the entire world to the love of rhubarb.

If you’re in New England, please join me at one (or more) of my upcoming events. This evening, Friday, June 8, at 6:30 p.m. I’ll be talking about the book at the Arms Library in Shelburne Falls. Boswell’s Books will be on hand to sell copies of the book, and nibbles will OF COURSE be served.

On Saturday, June 9, from 10 to 3, I’ll have a table at the Lenox Rhubarb Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts. I’ll sign books, of course, and serve samples (until the samples run out; I gather the festival attracts quite a crowd).

On Saturday, June 16, from noon to 5, I’ll be signing books in Sherman, Connecticut, at the White Silo Farm and Winery Rhubarb Festival. I don’t have to bring food to this event because the chef at White Silo is making a number of tasty rhubarb dishes, including my own rhubarb pizza! If you’d like to learn more about my upcoming events (yes, there will be quite a few), visit my website.

The recipe below, which I made on Mass Appeal this week, won’t be coming with me to any events; it’s wet and warm and therefore not ideal to transport. Do try it, however, especially if you like sweet/sour combinations. I have served it as a main course, but it also makes an excellent appetizer.

If you have my book, please let me know what you’re cooking from it. And if you don’t have it, here’s a great place to find it!

I’m having trouble embedding videos these days, but you may watch my TV appearance by clicking on this link. The second dish we made, “Bee Mine Rhubarb Crumble,” substituted honey for the white sugar in my standard rhubarb crumble recipe as noted last year. (Note: I would cut down on the honey in this recipe; that stuff is sweet!)

The honey pays tribute to yet ANOTHER festival this week, the Langstroth Bee Festival in Greenfield. I wish it weren’t on the same day as the rhubarb festival! But I can always bee there next year.

Happy spring!

Rhubarb Glazed Meatballs

Ingredients:

for the stewed rhubarb:

2 pounds rhubarb (about 6 cups chopped)
2/3 to 1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

for the meatballs:

1 pound lean ground beef
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/3 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 12-ounce bottle chili sauce
2-1/2 to 2-3/4 cups stewed rhubarb (you will have some extra from the recipe above, which I encourage you to eat as it is!), pureed in a blender

Instructions:

First, stew your rhubarb. Wash and trim the rhubarb. Cut it into 1-inch pieces. In a heavy, nonreactive saucepan, combine all the ingredients and cover. Let the pan sit for an hour or so to allow the rhubarb to juice up; then cook it over low heat until the rhubarb softens (at least 5 to 7 minutes; maybe more depending on your stove).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the chili sauce and rhubarb.

Mix well; then shape the mixture into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on a large rimmed baking sheet (I like to line it with nonstick aluminum foil), and bake the meatballs for 25 to 30 minutes (or until done).

While the meatballs are baking, combine the chili sauce and rhubarb in a 3-quart saucepan. Bring them to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

When the meatballs are done add them to the sauce. Stir to coat, and simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring gently from time to time.

Makes 24 to 30 meatballs.

Before I leave you, here’s a link to another of my appearances, a humorous segment from our local public radio station. The interview was fun, and the video is priceless—not because I sing or play the piano particularly well (it wasn’t a great day for either skill!) but because you can hear my irrepressible dog, Cocoa, sing along with me. Here is the link!

 

Rhubarb Time!

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE rhubarb—and that my new book, Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb is coming out on Saturday?

I know I have—but I have to share another recipe here this week in anticipation of the book’s release!

I made these muffins twice this week, first on CT Style in New Haven, Connecticut, and then with my regular crew on Mass Appeal.

I’m suggesting that you watch the CT Style version because if you watch it you’ll see my nephew Michael. Michael has been acting as my intern for the past week and a half and will be with me through the book launch on Saturday.

He has helped me pack and mail books, pick rhubarb, weed the herb garden, move stuff around to prepare the house for the big day, and of course cook and cook and cook.

I have a feeling the other high-school seniors in his class have more traditional internships (without a lot of chopping or harvesting). The internship is supposed to show him what the business life of the person he is shadowing is like, however—and my business life is basically my personal life.

I guess there are worse lessons to learn than that!

Meanwhile, I am grateful for Michael. He is a teenager, and I am a set-in-her-ways slightly older person. So we have had a few tussles over priorities. We have basically had a wonderful time, however. And I’m very proud of him.

I can’t figure out how to embed the video below so that it fits exactly on my blog—but I’m still trying to embed it. You may also watch it by clicking on this link.

Happy rhubarb season! Thanks to all of you who have ordered my book. And if you haven’t yet done so, I’ll be happy to inscribe a copy for you. Here’s how to order.

Rhubarb Sugar-Top Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped rhubarb (fairly small pieces work best)
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
sanding sugar (or regular sugar if that’s all you have) as needed

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the rhubarb in the confectioner’s sugar and set it aside. Melt the butter, and set it aside as well.

In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients. Stir in the milk and then the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the melted butter, followed by the sugared rhubarb. Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon to spoon the batter into lined muffin tins. Sprinkle sugar generously on top.

Bake until the muffins begin to brown on top and pass the toothpick test, 20 to 25 minutes. (If you want mini muffins, they may take a little less time.) Makes 12 to 36 muffins, depending on the size of your muffin tins.

This recipe recipe may be doubled.

Coming VERY, VERY SOON!

Friday, May 4th, 2018

My new book comes out on May 26!

I will have copies next week. (I can’t wait!) If you have enjoyed this free blog over the years, please support me by purchasing a copy. If you really can’t stand rhubarb (surely not!), please consider asking your local library to order the book.

I know not everyone is a rhubarb lover–but I think everyone should be. Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb features not just recipes that have appeared on these pages but also a lot of brand-new unusual and usual recipes, from rhubarb pizza to coconut-rhubarb pie.

So … please order now! It is available from me in hardcover and from Amazon in kindle format. (It’s also available on Amazon in hardcover, but I make very little money that way–and I ship for free and autograph books. So please order from me.)

Here are the links:

Buy the book.

Buy the kindle.

If you are local to me (western Massachusetts) and would like to come to an event, those are detailed on my website I will be speaking at lots of bookstores and libraries–and will host the launch, the Hawley Rhubarb Matinee.

Thank you!